ligion in France, as a means of maintaining social order and a subjection to constituted authorities, he was himself indifferent as to any peculiar system of worship, but thought with Rousseau, that homage was equally acceptable to the Deity, under whatever form it might be presented. The man who in publicly addressing the Mufti, in the pyramid of Cheops, adopted the usual Mahommedan salutation of Glory to Allah! there is no true God but God, and Mahomet is his Prophet,' &c. was at all events no very rigorous disciple of Christianity. In his address, however, to the deputation of clergymen who waited upon him at Breda, we find him talking of having met in Bossuet, and the maxims of the Gallican church, with principles that, agreeing with his own, had prevented his being a Protestant. The text upon which he dwells on that occasion (and which was, perhaps, the fundamental principle of his Christianity,) is, Give unto Cæsar the things that are Cæsar's.' He tells them, I am of the religion of Jesus Christ, who said, Give unto Cæsar the things that are Cæsar's; and, conformably to the rules of the same Gospel, I give unto God the things that are God's.' Cæsar's share he certainly exacted with rigorous scrupulosity; what he gave to God it would be less easy to discover. However, misfortunes may perchance have changed bis hand and checked his pride; for we now see him attentive to the forms of worship, and to exercises of piety, when his example can be no longer imposing when his indifference would pass unregarded." We have given these extracts at length, because we think that all authentic information relating to this extraordinary being will be collected and read with increasing interest, as the prejudices and passions of the present time begin to subside. Posterity will regard him with more astonishment than ourselves who have seen his beginning and his end. "When that his body did contain a spirit, STANZAS TO A BEAUTY. TRANSCENDANT Being! say-ah! tell me whence- And uncompounded of our base material clay! Sent down to cheer this gloomy world below? Where purest love abounds, and lasting raptures flow? Proclaim thee human still-and still as woman-weak! JOURNAL OF A TOURIST. IT has been observed, that were seven different people to visit the same quarter of Rome on the same day, and publish what they had seen, their accounts would probably be all different-so various are the associations which that city suggests, and so much do the impressions produced even by physical objects, depend on the temperament of those who contemplate them. In a minor degree, the same observation may be extended to objects much more accessible, and infinitely less pregnant with recollections, than Rome. When Goldsmith proposed an addition to the Literary Club, because the existing members knew the extent of one another's minds, Dr. Johnson indignantly exclaimed-"I promise you, Sir, you have not yet half got to the bottom of mine;" and without the vanity of even disclaiming any comparison with that powerful intellect, I will venture to assert, that no mau of ordinary observation, if he will give a faithful transcript of his mind, as he journeys through new scenes, can fail to produce something worthy of perusal, even although his course should have One need not "moved on the broad way and the beaten track." travel from Dan to Beersheba to find subjects for the pen; and as a worthy bibliopolist has lately published an excursion from London to Richmond, which, to my taste, is incalculably more interesting than the two Voyages to the untrodden regions of Baffin's Bay, notwithstanding the attractions of copies of the log-book and long tables of lunar observations, I am not without hopes that a trip by the ordinary if it route from London to Italy may be made perusable, even possesses no other merit than that of recording, in the language that first occurred, the impressions of the moment, as they flitted across the author's mind. "Life, Sir, has few things better than this," said Dr. Johnson, as he was travelling at a brisk rate in a post-chaise; and certain it is that the excitement of rapid motion, and a quick succession of objects, is highly gratifying to all minds; while to men of hypochondriacal or phlegmatic constitutions, by acting as a wholesome stimulant, it probably affords a double portion of enjoyment. Is it on this account that the English are so fond of celerity in travelling, and that so many dull and listless loungers are as anxious to gain five minutes in flying to Brighton, as if their time were really worth saving? Such is our overweening self-conceit, that we think it impossible we should be guilty of inconsistencies which we can so easily detect in others; and yet, without a single motive for hurry, I felt impatient to be at Dover.-MEM. To think a little more of my own foibles, and a little less of other people's. As we travelled through the smiling fields of Kent, richly cultivated to the very edge of the road, hops and corn waving on every side in healthy luxuriance, and apparently ready to pour out their wealth into the laps of their proprietors, I could not help reflecting on the Tantaluslike fate of the cultivators, who, from the ruinous prices of agricultural produce, are fated to starve in the midst of plenty; or, to use a more appropriate phrase, are in imminent danger of dying of a plethora. More than once did I repeat to myself the four well-known lines beginning, "Sic vos non vobis ;" and I thought of the arms assumed by Tasso, to reproach the ingratitude of his patron-a bee-hive destroyed for its honey, with the motto-" Evil for good." Such is the disjointed and unnatural state of England, that it is not easy to foresee a remedy for this alternation of misery between the manufacturer and the agriculturist, one of which classes can only be relieved at the expense of the other, thus keeping both, as an alliterative friend of mine expresses it, in a round robin of ruin, and a successive see-saw of starvation. Like an enormous millstone round the neck of the nation, the public debt drags every thing from its equilibrium; and so long as we endeavour to support its entire weight, we shall be destined, I am afraid, to illustrate the fate of the pig who cut his own throat in endeavouring to keep his head above water. Symptoms of a change in our system begin, however, to manifest themselves. Cries of "Nemo tenetur ad impossibile” have been raised in Parliament, and received with acclamations; those who make the laws are necessarily landholders, and the result of a contest between the agricultural and funded interests cannot be doubtful. Already have the former repealed the Horse-Tax against all the influence of the minister, and, having thus felt their strength, it is not likely they will relax in their efforts; nor, if self-preservation be the first law of nature, can they fairly be blamed for throwing other people's property overboard instead of their own, when the state vessel is in danger of foundering. How well do I remember, when the Pilot who weathered the storm, or as he is sometimes termed with Hibernian felicity" the immortal statesman now no more," levelled every variety of contemptuous sneer, taunt, and ridicule against the French nation, for their want of credit, while he magnified the power and blessings which England enjoyed from the inexhaustibility of her financial resources. Alas! like the wonders to be wrought by his Sinking-fund, the blessings have disappeared, the burthens remain: England is struggling with difficulties which she never can surmount but by a violation of faith with the public creditor; while France, after all the repayments and contributions exacted in two quick succeeding conquests, is in a more flourishing financial condition than any country of the world.-MEM. not to write about politics or political economy in future, for we have been lately satiated with the subject in England, and in France it is reckoned "contra bonos mores." Arrived at Dover, and learned, to our infinite disappointment, that the steam-boat, by which we intended to cross, had met with an accident at Calais, and could not be repaired for some months. Aware of the prejudice existing among "the old shipping interest" against this most delightful innovation, I enquired where I could find any persou connected with it, but was universally informed, that it was conducted by a stranger, and that no friends belonging to the establishment were living at Dover. Distrusting every person lounging about the beach, or attired in blue trowsers, I betook myself to respectable tradesmen, as far as possible from the perfidious ocean: they were unanimous as to the vessel having been nearly beaten to pieces, though they differed as to the time when she might be expected over; none, however, think ing it could be less than three months, and some deeming the injury altogether irreparable. To make assurance doubly sure, I applied finally to the landlady of my hotel, who very candidly told me, that there was a gentleman in the place attached to the steam-boat establishment; that she expected him to call in about half an hour, and would send him to my room. He presented himself accordingly, and I instantly saw by his looks that the news was all true. He had only that morning received a letter from the captain, informing him that the iron paddles could not be repaired at Calais, and that she must be towed over to Dover, where he feared he should inevitably be detained a month or five weeks. In this emergency, he recommended me, as a friend, to embark on board the regular packet, which with the wind then prevailing could not be above three or four hours in effecting the passage. I took his advice:-the first person I saw on board "the regular packet," when I had bargained for my conveyance, was himself acting as mate:-we had a miserable passage of eight hours, all dreadfully ill; and, on the morning following our arrival, had the mortification of seeing the steam-boat cutting out of Calais harbour in gallant trim, as if she were flying over the waters to confound all the detractors and falsifiers of Dover. Remembered the anecdote of Gibbon, who, being disturbed, when writing his history, by the quarrels of two servants beneath his window, proceeded to investigate the cause, but was utterly unable to ascertain the truth between their conflicting statements. "How futile," he exclaimed, "the task on which I am now employed, of deciding some contested point of the quarrel between Cæsar and Antony, when I cannot pronounce upon a fact which has occurred within this half hour almost in my own presence."-MEM. not to learn distrust and a general system of doubting from these instances; for it is better to be an occasional dupe than a systematic Pyrrhonist. Having lost the tide at Calais, we were forced to disembark in small boats, at an additional expense of four francs each, an imposition first sanctioned by the mayor of Dover, and only a retaliation on the part of the French. As we approached the shore, the national character instantly began to manifest itself: each of the rowers, utterly indifferent to the orders of the steersman, seemed to have a plan of his own for avoiding the breakers, which he supported with inconceivable vehemence of voice and gesticulation, echoed and even surpassed by a hundred half-naked fellows on the beach, who, as we drew near, rushed into the water, and seizing us amidst a thousand exclamations, all uttered in the highest key of their voice, conveyed us in their arms, or on their backs, to the wet sands, where, upon paying one franc and a half more, each person had the pleasure of finding himself standing in a French puddle. Contrasted this vociferous and attitudinising hurlyburly with an incident of which I was once a witness, and which evinced the phlegmatic energy of the English character. In one of our steam-boats a sudden gust of wind having blown the steersman's hat into the water, he muttered an oath-rang the bell, which gave notice to the superintendant of the boiler below to take off the steam and stop the vessel, and calling out the word "Tom!" to a sailor, pointed to the floating beaver. Without uttering a word, Tom touched a messmate's shoulder, and repeated the signal with his finger, when they both jumped into the small boat at the vessel's stern, pulled instantly away with all their strength,-recovered the hat, and delivered their dripping prize in perfect silence to the steersman, who again rang the bell as a signal to proceed, and we resumed our voyage with no other expenditure of breath than a muttered oath, and the pronunciation of the word "Tom!" On board a French vessel a similar occurrence would have raised a hundred voices and shoulders at once, and amid the general uproar they would probably have never decided what was to be done until the hat had sunk, when they would have attitudinised, and exclaimed for half an hour longer. Another half franc for permission to mount Calais Pier enabled us to consider ourselves fairly in France, not all disposed to quarrel with Dr. Johnson's definition of a ship, and very much inclined to doubt the existence of that nautical beau ideal, the dramatic sailor. Passed under the gate rendered familiar to the most untravelled Englishman by Hogarth's satirical caricature, and found a comfortable hotel in the Rue Eustache St. Pierre, so named from the celebrated mayor, who resided in it at the time of the memorable surrender, which history and Colman's popular opera have combined to impress upon our recollections. Could that patriotic magistrate lift up his head from beneath the vaults of the great church, we could not help fancying that he would find very little change in the houses or habiliments of his fellow-citizens, for every thing appertaining to Calais has an air inconceivably antique, and forms a contrast to England as sudden as it is singular and amusing. One of the first reflections that crossed my mind was-the folly and wickedness of kings and rulers, by which two nations, formed to esteem and improve one another, have, for the greatest part of every century, been debarred from mutual intercourse: or only allowed to meet for the rational recreation of cutting one another's throats, or thrusting bayonets into one another's bodies; while their governors, aloof from danger, patted their besotted victims on the back, and stimulated their ferocity till the work of destruction was complete. I recalled the sanguinary wars occasioned by weak monarchs, wicked favourites, and profligate mistresses, not forgetting the political change and convulsion emanating from an angry kick which the Pope bestowed on an English ambassador's lap-dog, for snapping at his spangled slipper; and I had already begun to concoct a philippic worthy of Demosthenes, when it occurred to me, that, in many instances, the rulees might be quite as much in fault as the rulers.-The London merchants, I remember, threw up their hats and gave three cheers when the war was renewed between France and England; and I cannot help considering the pressure and misery which they are now enduring, as a fit reward for their sordid inhumanity.-MEM. Not to indulge too much in declamation, nor impute all the miseries of the world to those who are so obliging as to assume its management. Their fair share is quite enough. If any one should ever peruse this album, he will find strange transitions, for I record whatever comes uppermost (as the phrase is); though it is, perhaps, no very violent change of subject, to wander from the heads of nations to the heads of the women, which, among the |